Star Wars: Gray
by The One Beard
Summary: After losing her master, Jedi Padawan Cora Darlarya must decide weather to move past her emotions to become a Jedi, or to allow her emotions lead her to revenge.
1. Padawan Cora

"Remember, Padawan, steady your heart and your mind will follow, but make sure to not cut the link between them, for that will limit your power." A firm, yet kindly voice echoes from the darkness. A face slowly comes into view, a man. Grey hair and long beard, and slight wrinkles, the signs of aging very much apparent. The face however bears a warm smile, as he speaks.

"The Jedi would believe that emotion harms, hinders their abilities, while the Sith believe the opposite. That emotion is the one path to true strength." The face begins moving forward, revealing the light grey robes that adorn the mans body, a slender metal rod dangling from his side.

"They both hold only half of the truth, inner peace and concentration are key to our powers, but without emotion to give it purpose and strength, ones strength is a mere mouse to the tidal wave of potential." The darkness, and the mans form, begin to fade, slowly pushed away by encroaching light.

"Remember that, my Padawan, your strength is unmatched, if you find the balance. Strive for it, but do not let it consume you in the process, many have fallen from the path. I know, however, that you will not." As he says this, his image fading into the light, and a pair of light blue eyes open to the blinding light of an infirmary lamp above them. The eyes glance around the room, taking in the new surroundings. A teal medical droid stands towards the far wall, near the door to the small room, currently offline. The clean white walls of the infirmary room seemed to reflect the light of the lamps, making it take longer for the eyes to adjust. As they continue to look around, a small whirring noise from the door drew their attention back to the droid as it now began activating, the dim yellow light returning to its eyes.

"Patient: Padawan Cora Darlarya, status: Conscious, alerting Jedi Council." A young woman lay on the table, bright blue eyes staring at the medical droid that is now going about the room, taking vitals and checking equipment. As the droid rounded to the other side of the bed, very slowly lifting a mirror off of a small table.

"Padawan Darlarya, what is the first thing you remember?" The droid standing only a foot or so from the woman.

"I... I remember... my master, teaching my first lesson..." A dry but feminine voice answers back, showing the lack of use, as the Padawan works to adjust herself in the bed. A gentle robotic touch from the droid kept her still, as the bed underneath her upper body began raising, bringing Cora to a more sitting position. The droid began bringing the mirror forward when the door, making a quiet woosh sound, opened, revealing two robed figures, one with a thick black beard and hair, his face bearing many scars from many battles. The other, standing in similar robes, with several long tendril like dreads that visually look in place of hair, and all the same green toned skin as the rest of him, and two large black eyes looking at her.

The medical droid looked to the door and stood straight, the Padawan doing her best to follow suit.

"Master Gallus, Master Fisto, whats going on?" The two men step into the room, Master Gallus with a face of mourning, Master Fisto with one of confusion.

"You mean, you don't remember?" Kit Fisto's nautolan accent adding more flair than even he meant for. Cora shook her head, causing her ears to ring painfully upon doing so. She visibly flinches and covers one ear, waiting for it to pass before dropping her hand. Looking back at the Jedi masters, Cora only grew more concerned.

"Do you remember your last mission? With your master on your home world?" Cora looks away from the masters towards the foot of the bed.

"Concord Dawn..." Both masters visibly tense on the name being mentioned, "With Master Kaifos, I remember. We were investigating a droid presence that had been reported there and..." Cora paused for a moment as she dug through her memories to drag out the rest of the story.

"We had all figured with it being your home world, you and your master were the best to send and investigate, however... something happened, the separatists must have set an ambush in the orbiting debris or something. When we arrived, the ships under your masters command were destroyed. You and a handful of clones were all that managed to survive, you all have been here recovering." Cora simply stared at Master Gallus as he explained what happened, the stinging feeling in her eyes causing her to wipe a few tears with the back of her hand. Master Fisto reached across and grabbed the mirror from the droid, and gently handing it off to Cora, very lightly squeezing her hand as she pulled the mirror up.

She locked eyes with herself, her shoulder length blonde hair was unkempt and messed, her light skin still seemed the same too, her eyes traced from top to bottom until she saw the first change, the start of a scar underneath her right eye. She followed it down, the scar seemingly one of many that split off on her jaw, covering almost the entirety of the lower right of her face, running from jaw to the tip of her chin, under her eye, up the side of her nose, across the right corner of her mouth. She ran a her right hand up to the scars and now saw that the hand bore the same kind of scarring. Her eyes widened as she looked down, throwing the covers of the bed off of her, and saw the origin of the scarring, her entire right arm, and a good portion of her side, chest and shoulder were covered in scars, from what looked like burns and surgery.

Both masters watching her with saddened eyes, until she stares over at them with tears now fully running down her face.

"And Master Kaifos is..." A small nod from Gallus was all it took to answer her, as she dropped her head against the bed, closing her eyes and began shaking her head.

"This can't be real, this can't be happening." A hand on her shoulder made the Padawan open her eyes, and look over at Master Gallus.

"I'm truly sorry Cora, I know how much Kaifos meant to you." As he said this, Cora stared down at her reflection, the tears still flowing down, following the paths of the scars.

"Do we know who did it?" Cora spoke up, not looking away from herself, her voice wearing down slowly but an icy tone slowly taking over. Her grip tightening on the mirror.

"No, but we have confirmed a large droid base on the planets surface, Master Luminara and her apprentice are on their way now to push the separatists out of the system.

"I want to go..." Cora replied, catching the masters off guard, they look to each other with mixed emotions then to Cora.

"You must rest, going now would only harm you further," Master Fisto held his hand up to keep her in bed, "And you mustn't let your emotions over come you, we all grieve your master same as you..." The sharp sound of glass snapping interrupted the masters as they looked down at the sight of the shattered mirror and fresh blood now staining the bed cover.

"He was like a father to me, he saved me, taught me to be the best Jedi I could be, he... taught me... to always protect those you love... and I failed..." Her grip loosened on the mirror, allowing the medical droid to take it from her, several shard of the mirror still embedded in her hand. Gallus and Fisto both took a step back, looking between the crying Padawan and each other. Finally, with a sigh from Master Gallus, he put his hand on Cora's shoulder.

"Let me talk with the council, but I want you to take at least a few more days to recover, allow yourself to mourn, come to peace with what happened, you will only let your emotions take control if you leave now, you may leave as a Jedi, but you may arrive there as Sith at this rate." Both the Padawan and Master Fisto looked at Gallus in surprise. Cora, with her left hand now, wiped the tears away and took a breath, staring at her hand as the medical droid carefully began removing the shards and applying the sutures where needed.

"Thank you Master, I promise I'll be ready, and I promise to control my emotions more, I apologize." A gentle squeeze of her shoulder was all she got in response before the master backed away from her.

"Then we will leave you to rest further, Padawan." The two masters bobbed their heads and received the best bow one could give in an infirmary bed, and the two stepped out, closing the door with another quiet woosh. Cora stared at her hand in sorrow, tracing the scars up her arm, across her shoulder where she could see and underneath the coverings on her small chest. She laid her head back as the medical droid kept patching her hand up and closed her eyes, letting her mind wander, but no matter where she went, she always trailed back to the first thought, 'why was his first lesson the one she kept returning too."

"You cannot let her go back to that planet!" Kit Fisto, finally speaking up after leaving the room and making sure it wasn't within ear shot. Master Serdak Gallus only sighed.

"Did you not see what happened? Did you not feel that? If she cannot control her emotions she will surely fall to the dark side! We cannot let her do this, to allow her the time to mourn might have gone to far." The two walked through the halls of the Jedi Temple, away from its medical wing. Gallus stopped in his tracks, staring blankly at Kit.

"What would you have done in my place? It is the Jedi's way to show compassion, to help those that need it. She needs to grieve or else it will always effect her, always weigh her down." The two stand several feet apart, looking at one another, Kit's eyes showing the thought he was going through.

"It is also the Jedi way to control ones emotions," Kit sighed and stepped closer to Gallus, "But I know you only wish to help the girl. She's a Padawan without a master, no voice to guide her anymore, she feels lost. I know you felt it too friend. But to allow her to go back to Concord Dawn will only invite more pain and confusion for her." Kit placed a hand on Gallus shoulder, trying to reason with him, only to have it shrugged off as Gallus steps around him.

"We'll just have to see what the Council decides of the matter then." Gallus continued down the massive hall of the Temple, followed by a very disapproving Kit Fisto.


	2. Remembering

The next few days passed by without much event, as Coras extended bedrest and injuries had taken their toll. She spent the time working with the medical bot, slowly building her strength. At first a couple steps but soon she was slowly working her way around the room unassisted, all the while her mind looped; her first lesson with Master Kaifos, Concord Dawn, an explosion, heat and pain.

She stopped pacing around the room, choosing to lean on the small metal sink next to the door. She pressed two fingers to each temple, her head beginning to hurt from the exertion.

"Padawn Cora, are you alright?" The medical bots monotone bringing her back from her thoughts.

"Yeah. I'm fine, just a headache" Her eyes glanced around the room, staring at blank walls, her bed, a wide window giving view to the busy skys of Coruscant. Her attention lingered on her padawan robes, sitting neatly folded off to the side of the bed. She walked over and took them in her hands, feeling the course material that made up the vest portion. Some of the doctors had brought it in hoping to jog some memory of what happened, but it only gave her more flashes.

"Today is the day right?" Cora asked out, more to herself than anyone, but still the medical bot chimed in.

"Today has been marked as your release from this medical wing, as well as a personal date has been marked for 'memorial'" She unfolded the robes, the same gray as her masters, and she couldnt help but smile at it a little bit. A fringe of black drew her attention to the right side, as she saw the right arm looked to have been burned off, leaving a vacant area with blackened and singed marks just shy of the shoulder. Her smile faded as quickly as it came, and she looked to her own right arm, now scarred. She hugged the robes to her for a moment and began to change.

Cora finished up and looked at herself in a full length mirror in the small sectioned off bathroom, her robes still fitting perfectly to her small physique, but the lack of sleeve felt of bit off to her. Digging through some of the supplies at hand, she unwound a roll of medical bandage around her scarring, and emulating a sleeve as she looked it over in the mirror. She exited the bathroom and moved for the door, taking one last glance around the room.

A small tablet, the release forms still pulled up sat filled out on a swinging table, and the bed made neatly as could be, save for the indent Coras head made on the pillows that still stayed. She moved her gaze to the teal medical bot as it finished disposing of what small amounts of trash there was.

She nodded to it, and as expected, got no response as it shuffled to its small station by the door and proceeded to power down, leaving Cora alone. She reached for the button to leave but hesitated as she felt something on the other side of the door. Her hand hovering from the button to the door itself, she focused on the other side, feeling several presences and all actively trying to conceal that they are there. She opened her eyes and felt her heartbeat start picking up, none of them were jedi, thats for sure, but she knew whoever it was was waiting for her.

She clenched a fist as best she could, let a breath and pressed the button, letting the door quietly woosh open, revealing a squad of five clone troopers, each holding a hand on a large banner saying in bold black font "Get Well Soon." Each of the troopers immediately stiffened up on seeing the door open and Cora standing in the doorway. The far left of the troopers looks to have stopped counting down at three, still holding three fingers up. Their white armor shining under the medical wings lights, allowing Cora to see the slightly gray off tones to their armors, her eyes widening and her fist loosening.

"You guys!" She launched forward, forgetting her reason for being there in the first place and jump hugged the center three clones, dragging them to her and crunching the banner up between them.

"Cora! Youre up sooner than we thought!" The center clone groaned out as the padawan released the three clones and lowering herself to the floor. At her normal height, the clones each stood about a foot taller than her, making her smile up at each of them.

"Well no duh Break, she is a jedi after all!" One of the other clones slugged Breaks arm and laughed, before smiling at Cora, "Its good to see you doing so well kid."

"And you too Rigs, I'm glad to see you all made it out okay too." She smiled, genuinely for the first time in a while.

"Well after a week straight in bacta for 6k and Scope, I'd hope we're doing okay at least!" The laughter slowly died down, eventually leaving the group in silence for a few moments. Cora looked up at the clones again, her smile gone again.

"I'm sorry you all got so hurt too, and Master too..." Coras breathing began to shake when an armored hand belonging to Mute, the final of her friends. He simply smiled down at her, and she could see the scar across his throat that earned him his nickname. Even without speaking, Cora understood what the look meant, and she took a moment to calm herself, steadying her breathing.

"I'm going back.." Further silence filled the void after Cora said this, stunning the troopers still holding the sign, "After I go to Master Kaifos' burial, I'm going with Master Luminara and her apprentice, I can't rest until I find the thing who did this to us." She looked up at the troopers, their similar faces each worried for her.

"Cora, you dont have t-"

"I DO!" She snapped, a small wave of force following her voice and making Rigs take a step back to catch himself.

"Everytime I close my eyes, all I can see is his face, every sound I hear, I think something is exploding again. I need to do this, I need to avenge my master, I need to protect my homeworld. I... I..." She looked at each of the troopers, her eyes now wet with tears, but still holding on to the anger.

"I promise that I won't fail this time either." She turned away from her friends, began walking down the medical wing hallway, leaving them in silence, their mouths agape as they look at each other for confirmation.

"Rigs we can't let her go, not alone." 6k spoke up, making the others look at Rigs in agreement. With a heavy sigh, he turned to his brothers and looked at 6k.

"We'll need to find Master Luminara then, I have an idea." The clones each looking nervously at each other, as Rigs turned to the same direction Cora had left, followed by the others. Mute stood in the back of the group, still holding the banner; silently folded it up and tucked it under his arm. The clones then walked out of the medical wing as well, waving their farewells to the non-robotic staff.

* * *

As Cora made her way through the Jedi Temple, she did her best to calm herself down again, wiping her tears away and focusing on her breathing, she almost didn't register it when her shoulder collided with someone elses, but the sudden pain certainly brought her back to the present. As her hand flew to her shoulder, Cora snapped her attention to whoever she had ran into. A young Togruta girl, not wearing robes but wearing a line of beads that proved she was a padawan, blue eyes and white and blue stripes decorating her head tails. They stared at eachother for a few moments, and as the Togruta opened her mouth to say something but a father away voice made her spin around, away from Cora.

"Snips! Hurry up!" A tall jedi knight further ahead of her waved her down. The Togruta girl gave Cora an apologetic smile before sprinting off after the knight. Cora simply stared after her as she ran off, before turning once again to her intended dstination. It didn't take long to reach the stairs that led to the crypts underneath the temple. She took a deep breath and stepped down, the ambient hum from the outside world slowly dimmed until the only thing Cora could hear was her own breathing. A long hallway stretched out before her at the bottom of the stairs, with multiple off shooting rooms and hallways. Walking for several minutes, occasionally peeking in at some of the tombs, Cora found her way to the correct tomb, occupied only by two jedi guard and Master Gallus, who quietly stared at the faint golden light emanating from the grave in the center of the room.

Cora entered and made her way to Master Gallus' side, staring at the gold light in silence.

"Cora, I know that you cared deeply for your master, that you feel like you owed him everything, but you cannot allow your emotions to lead you so heavily, it will only lead to darkness. One I fear even Kaifos wouldn't be able to save you from." Gallus rough voice spoke in a whisper, but still hit home as intended, as Cora looked up at him.

"Master Kaifos taught me that even harsh actions can help the balance of the force, and that if someone gives you a scar," She looked down at her own right arm, "It is only fair and balanced to give them one right back." Cora looked back at the grave, she stepped forward and knelt down, placing a hand on the cold stone doors. Gallus could only stare at her, as each word felt harsher than the last.

"I am a jedi, Master Gallus, I will always be a jedi." She stood up and looked at him, his dark brown eyes meeting her blue, the seriousness behind Coras eyes communicating all too clear to Gallus this message. He sighed and stepped closer to her, dropping a hand on her shoulder.

"It makes sense why the council made you Kaifos' pupil. You have his same energy, his passion. But be sure to not let this guide you, you must listen to your mind first, then your heart." Gallus tapped two fingers on Coras forehead. He smiled and looked back at the grave.

"Where ever the force has taken him, i know for a fact he couldn't be prouder of you." Gallus' eyes drifted up towards the door and a sigh escaped him, causing Cora to turn too, seeing two forms standing on the steps leading into the room. Both clothed in long flowing black robes, accenting their green skin, even in the dim light of the crypts. The closer and taller of the two walked forward, taking a moment to bow her head to the grave, then moving around to Gallus and Cora.

"Master Luminara? I thought we we're meeting you at your ship." Gallus fully turned to her, bowing his head slightly. She bowed in return then looked at Cora specifically.

"Any jedi who passes should be mourned, and the loss of a master is always hard on their pupils, I believed it respectful to come rather than wait." She gave a small smile to Cora.

"Then I take it you're taking off then?" Gallus received a nod, then turned to Cora.

"Remember what I said, alright? Oh, and I believe this is yours." He reached into his robe and detached one of two chromed hilts from his belt, and handed it to her. Even in his larger hands, the extended hilt of Coras lightsaber left room for another hand. The dulled chrome combined with small accented pieces of black metal signified it as hers. She carefully took the lightsaber and smiled, looking over the details again, the extended hilt with two seperated pieces of cloth for hand grips and a rounded off bottom. She clipped it to the backside of her belt, laying horizontally and going the full width of her waist. She looked up at Gallus again and nodded at him, a small confident smile on her face.

A cough from Master Luminara made the two look over at the jedi tapping her wrist, Cora moved to Luminara's side and the two stepped up the stairs and rejoined with the second person in black robes. Cora was surprised to see that she was in fact the same race as Luminara, only her faces was slightly more angular, with a row of black diamond tattoos across the bridge of her nose, and her robes did have a bit more decoration to them. Cora hadn't realized how long she actually had been looking at her before she realized she was being stared back at. A small blush of embarrassment flushed her face for a moment as she looked away.

"I'm padawan learner Barriss Offee by the way." She gave a small bow as they walked, but Cora made herself still look forward.

"Cora. Cora Darlarya." She scratched the back of her head as the two walked in awkward silence behind Master Luminara, as they climbed the final flight of stairs to the jedi temple and made for their ship.


End file.
